OXFORD, United Kingdom-Following last week’s decision from cell-phone operator MmO2 that it will delay the deployment of its U.K. third-generation (3G) service until the latter half of 2004, other European mobile operators provided more details of their 3G launch plans this week.
In the United Kingdom, Vodafone and Hutchison’s 3 have stated they both plan to deploy high-speed services sometime this year, while T-Mobile has restated its intention to launch 3G services in 200 German cities covering more than 25 percent of the population by quarter three of this year.
One operator pioneering 3G services, Austria’s Mobilkom, announced it will extend the network coverage of its service to more than 50 percent of the country by the end of 2003. The company, which was one of the first to deploy a 3G network in Europe, said it plans to invest 640 million euro (US$690 million) in 3G during the next 10 years, having already spent 72 million euro (US$77.5 million) during the last two years on 3G infrastructure.
